The Bible Diaries
by KeepingUpDisappearances
Summary: Diary entries from some of our favorite Bible "characters", including both Old and New Testaments. Genre is specified as 'general' but can include any other genres listed on FanFiction. Most entries will be "oneshot". I will keep these stories respectful.
1. Martha

_From the mind of Martha_

Monday—

I was getting a loaf of bread ready when Mary came running into the kitchen.

"What is it, Mary?" I asked patiently, adding leavening to the dough.

"Jesus is coming! Brush off your dress a little and get that flour off of your hands!"

"When is he coming?" I asked, hoping I would have time to get the bread in the oven and have it ready in time.

"Ten minutes," Mary said casually.

"Ten—Mary!" I exclaimed. "There's nothing ready! I always like to have food for our guests! Go draw some water. I'll have to try to think of something…"

I looked on the shelves in a recess in the wall that served as a pantry. There was some rice and a good amount of lentils, as well as dried figs, raisins, honey and spices_. Good_, I thought_, I will make pottage and Mary can stir honey into bowls of raisins and dates_. I hurriedly finished the loaf of bread, put it in the stone oven to bake, and started boiling water for the pottage.

"—really? I didn't know that. I never thought of the creation story like that."

I stood still when I heard my sister's voice come from the other room. Mary knew that I was trying to get food ready, and was just talking to Jesus like that? I poured the rice and beans and spices into the now boiling water and hurried out of the kitchen.

"Good afternoon, Jesus! I hope you are doing well. Mary, you'll get into the kitchen _now_ if you know what's good for you! I'm trying to get food ready for our guest!"

Jesus looked at me for a moment gently chided me.

"Martha, Martha! You are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.*"

I threw up my hands in frustration. Mary grinned at me, but it was a friendly, teasing grin.

"Hey, when we were children, you were always competing with me. Everyone in the village said that you were the sweetest, holiest little girl. Well, it's my turn now!"

I couldn't help laughing, and Jesus joined in. We laughed until we were gasping and my bad mood disappeared. Well, I'm not afraid to admit that I was being a little ridiculous. It was probably better to sit and talk and laugh with a guest than to frantically try to cook up some food in the kitchen, away from the guest. Well, there _was_ the pottage, anyway—_oh, no! The pottage!_ I dashed into the kitchen.

Luckily, I had saved the pottage from cooking too long. I stirred another pinch of spices and spooned the good soup into three stone bowls, and I managed to carry all three—plus spoons—to where Mary and Jesus were sitting.

"I did manage to make some pottage," I said. "I hope both of you will enjoy it."

"_Or else_," Mary said, emulating my voice, and all three of us laughed.

**xXx**

*Luke 10: 38-42


	2. Zacharias (Elizabeth's husband)

_Zacharias's Life Chronicle_

I, Zacharias, the head priest of the temple, woke up with the dawn. The duty of the offering of incense had been given to me, so, in the half-light of dawn, I walked to the temple. When I arrived at the doors of the holy place, I carefully washed my hands and removed my sandals before I entered. I walked into the cool darkness and lit a lantern so that I could see.

From a small table, I took a censer, filled it with incense, and then, lighting it, went about the temple, letting the smoke drift where it may and filling the temple with the rich odor of the incense.

The light of day started to fill the temple. I put the censer away and began making my way toward the door, for I needed to perform the daily blessing for the faithful waiting outside.

Suddenly, between myself and the door, a great spot of brilliant light flared up, so bright that I covered my eyes. I covered my eyes-not because I feared being blinded by the light—it could be the Lord appearing behind the light, and men, as sinners, do not have the honor to look at the Holy One.

"Zacharia," a commanding voice said. "Look."

I pulled my arm away from my face and saw an angel of the Lord standing before me. He had a noble face and was looking sternly at me.

"I have some very important news to give you. It is from the Lord."

I trembled. "And the news is?" I asked.

When the angel, who called himself Gabriel, told me the Lord's message, I blinked several times and stammered before I managed to reply. For the message that Gabriel relayed was this: that my wife, the very old Elizabeth, was pregnant.

I figured that Gabriel must have gotten the message mixed up somehow, and I thought I'd never heard of an angel so careless. If I had been less wise, I would've said so. Really, I thought rather irreligiously, perhaps the Lord could find a different job for Gabriel. This angel's skills as a messenger were a bit off…how could my wife have a child _now_?

"That is not possible," I said respectfully. "Elizabeth is very old. How can she be with child?"

I waited for Gabriel to realize his mistake, but he looked even more sternly. "It is true, and because you have doubted this message from the Lord, from now until the day your child is born you will not be able to speak."

I tried to protest, but I could not speak. My punishment had started right at that moment. I looked stupidly at Gabriel, and he gave me a severe look before disappearing.

I had to go to a rabbi and write on parchment a message for him to give to the people outside. I didn't know how much I could reveal, so I merely wrote that an angel had relayed a message from the Lord, which I didn't believe, and I would not be able to speak for a long time.

There was nothing left to do but to head home. I was aware of people staring at me, and I hurried away. I did not slow my pace until I was home, and there in the main room, mending some clothing, was Elizabeth and her friend, Hadar.

From another room I picked up a flat piece of smooth gray rock and a bit of chalk. I was aware of both of the women staring at me when I returned. They were waiting for me to speak, for I had not greeted them when I had entered the house, something considered very disrespectful.

I showed a message I had written on the slate: _Elizabeth, the angel of the Lord told me that you were having a child. I did not believe the Lord, and I am mute until the child is born._

I handed the slate to Elizabeth, who read the message and showed it to Hadar.

"Oooh, _someone's_ in trouble!" Hadar laughed. I frowned at Hadar, and I waited for Elizabeth to speak up for me, but Elizabeth giggled.

"He can't talk for nine months," Elizabeth said, but she didn't sound upset or sympathetic.

Hadar grinned. "You'll get through it somehow, Elizabeth," she said, grinning at Elizabeth, who chuckled and looked at me mischievously.

I stared as the women burst into laughter. Really, this was too much! Both of them were laughing away as if my being mute was the funniest thing it the world. I wiped the message off of the slate and wrote: _Thank you both for the sympathy. What if you two were unable to talk? The silence would be scary!_

Elizabeth looked at the message and laughed even harder, but she finally managed to stop and look a little more serious. She got up and walked over to me.

"You'll get used to it," she said cheerfully.

I did get used to it after a couple of months, or at least found myself resigned to it. I continued to communicate by using the chalk and the flat piece of rock, so I was still able to 'talk' among my family and the other townspeople and my fellow rabbis and priests.

Word got out about the news I hadn't believed, and many people came to visit Elizabeth and express their amazement. The women often came to help her prepare for the baby (speaking of whom, by the way, we were told by Gabriel to name him 'John', to the confusion of others). Very often I would come into my home to hear Elizabeth and four or five women chattering away like excessively loud sparrows. They also enjoyed teasing me.

"Zachariah," one woman said slyly, "Elizabeth wants to get together a big gathering of the women at your house to celebrate the news of the new baby. If you object, clearly say _no_."

I wrote _no_ on my slate. I knew all about Elizabeth's get-togethers—at least ten women crowding into the largest room in our house, talking and laughing loudly all through the supper hour.

The woman pretended to be annoyed.

"I said, 'clearly _say_ no'! I guess the gathering is on!" she laughed, winking at Elizabeth.

Yes, I got used to the teasing, but I was glad when my son was born—the main reason, of course, was my son being born safely and on time, but another reason was that I could finally talk again and the chattering and giggling of Elizabeth and her cronies was over.

I'll never doubt the Lord again!


	3. Peter

_**The Day I Walked on Water**_

_**-By Peter**_

The sun was already hot and pressing in the early morning when I, along with Mark, Luke and a couple of other fisherman walked down the beach to a large boat. Another day of fishing was to begin. The rank smell of fish was strong as we sought out and boarded an empty boat, and the air smelled like salt. It was always like this, the smell of fish and salt. It was a symbol of our trade. Once a fisherman, always a fisherman.

We headed to where the fishing was best. We cast our nets for several hours as the smothering sun bore down on us, but we only caught a few fish; the day was growing ever hotter when we'd just about had enough.

"We may as well head back," Mark declared, and everyone agreed right away.

Then we saw a dark cloud rising. We raced to shore but could not outrun the storm. Lightning flashed and waves knocked the boat about. Any minute now we were going to die. The boat lurched and crashed, making us all feel ill, and the brilliant lightning flared, showing the black sea and white foam that threatened to take us all.

Then we saw someone walking on water.

Above the noise of the sea Paul called, "SOMEBODY IS WALKING ON WATER!"

"GEE, I HARDLY NOTICED!" I shouted back.

We were all thinking the same thing; it was an apparition. An apparition seeming to walk across water in a terrible storm was not very comforting. Either we were insane and all seeing the same thing, or the apparition was a sign of bad things to come, maybe even iniment death!

I looked at the apparition again. Odd; it looked a lot like Jesus.

Then the apparition spoke. It _wasn't _an apparition. It was…Jesus. I heard him call out to me; he told me to come to him. I was baffled. Did Jesus expect me to _swim_ through the turbulent waters?

"Peter, walk to me," Jesus called to me. The wind had calmed down and the waves had lessened a little, so I was hearing clearly. Jesus had told me to walk out to him. I glanced back at the others, who were staring in disbelief.

Jesus repeated the command, and nervously, I climbed down the side of the boat and stepped onto solid water. Not ice. It was still ordinary water. But I was standing on it. Jesus looked at me and I started to walk toward him.

_Wow,_ I thought to myself, _walking on water? This is amazing! I'm walking. On water._ I paused. _Walking on water?!_ That was impossible. I panicked.

The water no longer felt solid, and I was sinking into it. I tried to swim, but I couldn't in this water. Apparently the whole key to the walking on water thing was to not dwell on the fact that it's impossible to walk on water.

The water was pulling me down. I was going to drown. I was sure of it. When I thought it was all going to be over, someone pulled me up. It was Jesus, and we were standing on solid water. The waves had suddenly become calm and the sun was shining through again. I had a feeling that Jesus had had something to do with that.

We both walked on the water, got into the boat and headed for sure. I was grateful to get back to solid land.

Once ashore, Jesus asked why I had doubted.

"I started thinking that it's impossible to walk on water," I said, "but I should have listened to you. You knew I could walk on water. I just had to trust." I paused. "But," I added, laughing, "I prefer walking on land."


	4. David (vs Goliath)

If anyone had told me that someday I would fight a giant that was over twice as tall as me, and certainly much stronger, I would tell them that they were insane. I'm not _short_ but I'm certainly not tall enough to face a giant, or so it seemed at the time. But I _did_ end up fighting a giant. It's an interesting story, if I say so myself.

I was only thirteen years old when the Philistine army was at war with Israel—not that anyone was surprised. My brothers went off to fight, but my father, Jesse, proclaimed that I was too young to fight. I wasn't sure how I felt about that; I thought I should fight for my family and for Israel, but, on the other hand, I probably _was_ too young to fight. I didn't yet have the quick reflexes or strength of my brothers.

A traveler came by our tent one day, and my father asked if he knew anything about the fight between Israel and the Philistines, for the traveler had come from that direction. The traveler spoke very seriously.

"For a long time, the men of Israel stayed in their tents. They were afraid, for the Philistines are tall, and one of them is taller and burlier than any of them. For forty days the people of Israel stayed away from battle, but two days ago they finally decided to fight. They had to show the giant—the Philistines call him Goliath, by the way—and his army that they were not afraid, but many are being killed."

My father turned to me and said, "David, you are light and quick. You can make it between the battle lines of Israel and see if your brothers are there. Just a fast look—don't linger, and come back to tell me. I must know how my sons are doing!"

The traveler looked from my father to me, and then looked at my father again. The way he looked at my father was not very nice.

"You're sending your young boy to be killed," he said coldly.

"No!" I said, suddenly feeling determined. "I can do it. I _will_ do it! I just have to look for my brothers. I won't have to fight."

The journey to where the battle was fought was not far, but the walking wasn't comfortable. The roads were so dry and dusty that they were often slippery, and the heat of the sun was pressing. There were many times that I had to scramble over large rocks, and I stumbled over smaller stones. At last, however, I was on a ridge above the valley where the war was being fought.

Many of the Philistines were very tall, but there was one who stood above them all. That was Goliath, the giant of whom the traveler had spoken. It wasn't just that his height that frightened me, and doubtlessly, many of Israel's army. No, he was also a fearsome and well-muscled man.

As I drew closer, I could hear him leering as he looked toward Israel's army. He also shouted obscenities at the soldiers. While he was trying to intimidate his opposition, the Philistine army fought right and left, fought blow for blow with the Israelites.

I dashed into the line of battle; I saw my brothers fighting together. One of them had a bad cut, but it was healed; other than that, they were all right.

Some fighters were less lucky—I kept stepping over bodies and steadying myself to keep from slipping in pools of blood. Nobody noticed me, until a firm hand gripped me and pulled me back. It was one of my brothers.

"David, you fool!" he cried. "What are you doing here?"

"Father sent me to find you and our other brothers," I protested.

A voice suddenly interrupted; it was a commanding yet kind voice.

"Who is this young boy?" a man with a distinctive face asked my brother.

"My youngest brother, King Saul."

I gasped. The King!

Just then, however, Goliath's voice bellowed, echoing in the valley.

"Why do you keep fighting this futile war, Israelites? You are fighting a losing war! But I suppose it is for the honor! The brave Israelites, fighting for their god…even though they'll be massacred anyway…"

Goliath's words angered me. Suddenly, _I_ wanted to be the one to kill Goliath. If Goliath was killed, or even just stunned for a time, it would shock the enemy enough Israel's fighters could take advantage of the Philistines' confusion. After all, if their great commander, whom they thought invincible, fell, what would they think?

"King Saul," I said, trying to sound brave, "I'd like to fight Goliath!"

The king and my brother stared at me. King Saul found his voice first; he smiled at me nicely and told me that though he was sure I'd be a brave fighter, I'd be killed before I even had a chance to face Goliath.

"But I am light and quick and small," I said. "It'll be easier for me to stay low."

The king must have seen the earnestness in my eyes, for he said slowly, "if you wish to fight, you may, but remember, we are facing a great and terrible army and the nastiest fighter among them is their leader!"

I mumbled my thanks and then dashed up a ridge into a small grove of trees. There, with a sharp rock, I carved a slingshot from a sturdy piece of branch. Then I cut a piece from my belt, which was made of strong leather that stretched fairly well. I tied one end to each fork of the slingshot. Finally, I found a handful of heavy stones and put them in my now empty water bag.

I worked my way through the battle lines and toward Goliath. Half an hour later, I stood, trembling, before the army of the Philistines. People were murmuring on both sides, and Goliath himself strode through his army until he was just yards away from me.

_Lord, I want to defeat Goliath,_ I prayed. _I would like to not die so I can return to my father and my mother, so I can return home with my brothers…but if it should be that I die, I will accept your will…_

"Well, well, well," Goliath sneered, as loudly as he could. "Look at the little Israelite! How precious! Are you going to kill big ol' Goliath? Take on the Philistine army?" He laughed cruelly.

I felt weak. _Calm down, _I told myself. _Imagine that you are winning. That you are taking a victory for Israel._

A Philistine spoke up. "Shall we kill this boy, Goliath?"

"No, no, let's see what the wee boy can do!" Goliath said, smirking.

I was praying a thousand prayers at once, or so it seemed. I could feel the tension of my fellow people behind me. I knew my brothers were very nervous for me, and I knew King Saul was nervous as well.

_Remember that you told the Lord that if you must die in your fight, you will accept it. Do not be afraid._ I chanted this mantra silently.

I gripped my slingshot, thinking about what I needed to do.

"Well, little boy?" Goliath yelled.

I picked up one of my stones, putting it in the slingshot with trembling hands. Then I aimed my weapon at Goliath, took a deep breath, pulled the back the leather band, and when I had stretched it as far as possibly, I quickly let the leather band go.

I closed my eyes, but scarcely had two seconds passed when I heard a great roar from both sides, and I was shoved out of the way. The army of Israel was charging! I looked toward the Philistines' army. Goliath was _dead!_ The Philisines were shocked. Our army did indeed catch them by surprise!

After many Philistines had gone down, a few still tried to fight. It was of no use for them; within moments, the survivors surrendered and fled.

A great shout went up from the Israelites: "VICTORY FOR GOD AND ISRAEL! Hurray for David! David who saved our people!"

_Well_, I thought, as my brothers carried me to King Saul, _I think I've had enough excitement for now._


	5. Moses (during the plagues)

**Note: I actually did a little research on this so that I became familiar with the story of the 10 plagues (to keep the story from rambling, I left out the plague of flies and of lice). I found a lot of interesting info on this website:** hub/Ten-Plagues-For-Ten-Gods

* * *

Have you ever had a day when you're just resting, or sitting down thinking about how life is sometimes monotonous, and then something extraordinary happened? I don't mean just out of the ordinary, or something unusual—I mean something absolutely _unheard of, _something that would make your knees shake and stun you from the resulting shock?

Well, I had one of those days. I, Moses, had been sitting under a tree, one of only a few spots of shade in the vast desert of Egypt, when I felt a very strong wind. Something told me to glance over at a large bush just a few yards beyond. As soon as I looked at it, it burst into flame, without any warning. I was stunned.

What was more odd was that the branches of the bush, though engulfed in flame, were not scorching and there were no ashes falling from the bush. I quavered. This was too strange.

And then I heard a stentorian voice cry out:

"Moses!"

I covered my face. The Lord, which I and my fellow Israelites often called Yahweh, was in the form of the burning brush.

"Y-yes, Lord?" I stuttered.

Without any preamble, the Lord declared: "I have chosen you to go to the Pharaoh and tell him to let my people go."

This was a shock to me, but I quickly said, "yes, Lord."

"You have doubts?" said the Lord. It was not a question, though it did sound so.

"Yes, Lord," I said hesitantly. "I am only one person, and the Pharaoh has the greatest power of all the men of Egypt. I paused and blurted, "Can't you…do it?"

I felt ashamed of saying that in to Yahweh, but I was feeling quite shaken up.

"You are a better medium than I am," said the Lord. "If I speak to the pharaoh directly, he will close his ears. And also say this to the pharaoh: that if he does not let my people go, the waters of the Nile will turn to blood."

"Yes, I'll do it, Lord," I said faintly, and the bush stopped burning. Everything felt still and normal again. Feeling more composed, I walked over to inspect the bush. _It was not burnt at all_.

I sat down in the shade once more and reviewed what the Lord had commanded me to do—I was to go to the great Pharaoh and tell him to let his slaves go. Sure, that would work out! "'Pharaoh,' I would say, "'please let the Israelites go! Our god commands it'." Would the pharaoh just agree?"

_Ha, ha_ I thought, but then reprimanded myself. The Lord had given me this mission, and I would do it. I felt rather nervous and a bit foolish as well, but I set out to the pharaoh's palace. It was an imposing place, large, grandly built and decorated with images of the Egyptians' false gods. Two guards stood before the entrance; I trembled as I approached.

"I must speak to the pharaoh," I said in a voice that did not sound like my own. The guards laughed.

"You wish to speak to the pharaoh? Why?" one of them said, smirking.

"I have a warning from my god, the one true God, Yahweh," I said a little more boldly.

"You are insulting the pharaoh! We will not let you see him," the other guard said darkly.

"I must," I said. "Just bring me to the pharaoh. I will not argue with him or preach. I will merely give the ultimatum that was given to me from Yahweh."

The guards relented. "You will only say that, then," the first one to speak commanded, and I nodded. I was led through the enormous hall of the palace and into the pharaoh's great throne room. There sat the pharaoh, looking at me in surprise as the two guards led me to stand before his throne.

"The Israelite has a message for you," the guards said.

The pharaoh looked at me condescendingly. "Speak, then, Israelite. You are Moses, are you not?"

"Yes, and I have been chosen by Yahweh, the true god, to give you this message: that if His people are not freed, a great curse will come over Egypt and the river will turn from water to blood."

The pharaoh looked at me in utter disbelief.

"You expect me to believe this?" he said angrily.

I trembled. I had heard that this pharaoh was easily angered, and I stood here with the most bizarre of messages; a god he did not worship, let alone believe in, had proclaimed that the waters of the Nile would turn to blood if he did not let his slaves go. The slaves in question were the ones working on the roads, buildings, and homes; working on the pharaoh's own tomb and the temples of his false gods; these were the slaves who served him and his wives and mistresses and his sons. To be honest, I did not wonder at the look of incredulity in the pharaoh's eyes, but I kept insisting.

"I would never lie," I said firmly. "Keep your land and your people safe—let the Israelites go, or this will come to pass."

The pharaoh looked truly angry now. "Get out!" he shouted at me. "I am giving you two minutes to stop this nonsense and leave!"

"I have given my warning," I said hastily and followed the guards as they led me away from the pharaoh's gilded throne. We walked out of the palace into the scorching afternoon sunlight. Well, that was that.

Later that evening, the Lord came to me again. "Tomorrow morning, before the Egyptians rise," He told me, "go to the bank of the Nile and strike the water with your staff; it will then turn to blood, as I have commanded."

…

Thus, early the next morning, in the half-light of early dawn, I went to the Nile. As Yahweh had commanded, I struck the water with my staff, and it immediately turned red. I looked at the red drops of liquid trickling down my staff. _It truly was blood._ I was astonished. Surely the pharaoh could not deny letting the Israelites go now.

The sun rose to behold the screams of the Egyptian women who went to the Nile to bathe or wash clothing. Other Egyptians and some of the slaves came running to see what the matter was, and the screams attracted the pharaoh, who marched down to the river. I saw him throw his hands to the air in disbelief. But he gathered his magicians around, and they were able to turn the water from the cisterns, the only water available, into blood and back again. But they were not able to turn the blood in the Nile to water again.

Still the pharaoh did nothing; for a great length of time the river was flowing with blood. The fish died and everything smelled rotten. The water in the cisterns was not enough and people became very thirsty and ill from a lack of water.

Then, one morning, I was called to the pharaoh's palace.

The pharaoh himself led me to his throne room, where he gravely told me that I was to lead my people away as quickly as possible so that the Nile would be turned into water again.

I gathered my people and told the good news, but they were skeptical. The cruel pharaoh freeing _them?_ Still, after much urging, they began preparing for the journey.

We had barely started out when we were surrounded by Egyptians slave masters and officials on their horses.

"The blood is water again," one of them shouted, "the land of Egypt is normal again. The pharaoh will not let this freak event cause him to send away the slaves."

There was a collective groan from my people, and I stood in silent disbelief.

…

That evening, I was yet again visited by the Lord, this time in my tent. I heard his voice as I was eating my meager meal.

"You must go to the pharaoh again and deliver this warning: that if he does not let my people go this time, the whole land of Egypt will be covered with frogs."

Frogs? Had I heard right?

…

Aaron was chosen to bring about the frog plague through the Lord; upon Yahweh's command, he stretched his rod out to the river. Immediately hoards of frogs hopped out of the water, dozens after dozens, until the land fairly echoed with loud croaks. There were exclamations from the Egyptians and the slaves. Every Egyptian stoop on the tops of buildings and were stranded there.

The slaves were left to stand on whatever bit of high ground or rocks rock the frogs couldn't reach, and there was very little of that. Everyone was huddling, looking down at the croaking, damp frogs. But still the pharaoh said nothing; instead, he commanded his magicians to cause frogs to come from the river. This the magicians were able to do, but they could not remove the frogs.

More and more frogs came, and the hot Egyptian sun soon killed them. Everywhere was a rotten, damp smell of frogs shriveling in the sun. At last he pharaoh spoke.

"Enough! Enough! The people of Israel may go."

The frogs disappeared at his words.

A short time later, however, before my people were even done preparing, a messenger of the pharaoh proclaimed that the Israelites could not leave, after all, and if they tried to leave, they would be slaughtered.

"Our great pharaoh will not back down from a few troubles," the messenger said.

…

The Lord yet again told me to warn of a coming plague, if the pharaoh did not take heed. For the third time, I went to the pharaoh. I had been coming so frequently that his guards usually let me in without much argument, if the pharaoh wasn't busy.

I entered the throne room again. The pharaoh looked incredibly disgusted to see me.

"Yes, what is it now, Moses?" he asked irritably.

"I have come with yet another warning from my Lord," I said severely. "If you do not repent and let my people go, all the cattle and livestock of the Egyptians will die. You have a week to decide what you wish to do in light of this warning."

The pharaoh merely waved me out of the room. I did not hear from him during the week that he had been given, and the cattle and livestock of the Egyptians soon died in only a few days. Surely now the pharaoh would give in.

He only said:

"If your god is like this, I will not let him defeat me. My own gods and goddesses of Egypt will prevail."

Without livestock, there was less food for the Egyptians and there were no horses and cattle for transportation; traversing the vast desert for what was needed, be it food, building materials, or medicinal herbs, was, very difficult.

But the pharaoh still refused to let the Israelites go. More plagues came as a result of his stubbornness.

All the people of Egypt broke out in massive boils; hail that fell to the earth like fire; swarms of locusts ate up all plant food and everything green; all of these things passed and were scourges upon the Egyptians. Despite the pleas of the people, and the words of the astonished magicians, who were unable to work such power, the pharaoh would not free the Israelites. His pride was too much. He would not admit defeat, even if his own people suffered.

Thus came the last and most severe of the plagues: because of the pharaoh's denial, the first-born of every family in Egypt would die. It thus was done, but the first-born of Israel did not die.

When the mourning was over, the pharaoh actually came to my tent, and in complete and earnest misery he said, "Moses, tell your _god_ that I will let his people go. This is too much! If he will stop the plagues, I truly will let the people go this time."

Thus I led my people out of Egypt.

That sounds like the story ends there, but not quite. We had not been walking away for long when the pharaoh's men came after us yet again. Yahweh commanded me to part the Red Sea by raising my staff.

The waters did part when I raised my staff, leaving a dry path. I marched with the Israelites to the other side. When the Egyptian soldiers tried to follow, the waters folded in again and drowned them.

The journey ahead, the years ahead, would not be easy, but we were out of tyrannical Egypt. All it had taken to bring this about was a river of blood, swarms of frogs, mass death of Egyptian livestock, great boils upon the people of Egypt, hail of fire, great clouds of locusts, and the death of the Egyptian first-borns. It doesn't take much to convince a pharaoh, does it?


	6. The 'Two Marys' (Resurrection day)

It was early on the third day following the terrible crucifixion of the innocent Jesus that I and Mary of Cleopas went out early in the morning to Jesus' tomb. We brought with us spices to anoint his body. Of course, we were still very grieved, but we hoped that this small sign of respect and remembrance would be pleasing to the Lord, and encourage us as well.

As we came toward the tomb, both of us exclaimed and jumped back. The stone sealing the tomb had been rolled back, and an angel in white clothing brighter than the sun was sitting upon it. On each side of the stone, a Roman guard lay prostrate on the ground, as if dead. It was such an unusual, supernatural sight that we quaked in fear, but the angel spoke to us kindly as we drew nearer, trembling.

"Mary of Magdalene, Mary of Cleopas," he said, "do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you." *

Indeed, Jesus was not in his tomb, but the cloths in which he had been wrapped were folded neatly and put just where he had laid. Mary of Cleopas and I were so amazed and stunned that we were almost frightened, yet we were joyful. At once we heeded the angel's words and went to tell the disciples the good news.

As we were hurrying to tell the disciples about Jesus' resurrection, however, we met Jesus himself. How startled we were—but we were more joyful than ever!

"Go to the disciples and tell them to meet me in Galilee," Jesus repeated the angel's words.

Jesus departed from us, and we continued on our way. We had much to talk about, and wondered if the disciples would believe us. We found them in an upper room in the city in which they were staying. With great joy we told them the news. Some of the disciples believed right away; some were skeptical, but they all obeyed Jesus' commanded.

As we returned to our own homes, Mary of Cleopas and I discussed the amazing news we had heard and talked of meeting the risen Lord. The prophecy had been fulfilled!

* Matthew 28: 5-7


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